Can-casing machine



l Feb. 3, 1931.

L. TlTus CAN cAsmG MAGHINE original Filed June 4; l192e 4 Sheets-Sheet lFeb. 3, 1931.V

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Patented Feb. 3, 1931 UETED STATES LEON TITUS, PORT ARTHUR, TEXAS,ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE PATENT OFFICE TEXAS COMPANY, OFyNEW' YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE CAN -CASING MACHINEOriginal application filed June 4, 1925, Serial No. 34,819.

Divided and this application led August 23,

1927. Serial No. 214,830.

vfor automatically casino Vsquare or angular cans.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a machine forautomatically casing square or rectangular shaped cans such, forexample, as oil cans in suitable shipping containers such as woodenboxes or the like.

Another object of the invention is to provide apparatus for feeding asupply of filled cans and a supply of shipping containers or cases tothe can casing machine, and for selectively inserting one or more of thecans in one of the cases.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a machine forvautomatically moving together a can or cans and a container in whichthe cans are to be packed, and for subsequently carrying 0H:l the filledcontainer.

A further object of the invention is to provide'a can casing machinewherein the cans and cases are suitably guided so that the cans arecertain to fit squarely within the container.

' A still further object of the invention is to provide mechanical meansfor handling the cans .and containers, and timing means for controllingthe operation of said mechanical means.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus forfeeding the cases to the can casing machine at predetermined and spacedintervals. f i

Otherobje'cts, features, andadvantages of the invention will appearfrom` the' following description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a view in sectionalelevation,

taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2, of a can casing machine constructed inaccordance with the present invention Yand constituting an embodimentthereof. Y

yFig. 2 is a plan view of the same' machine illustrated in F ig.` 1,some parts of the inachine having been brokeii away to more Fig. 4 is asimilarrview taken on the line' 4 4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a view in elevation of the case feeding mechanism and asectional view of the main body of the machine taken on the line 5 5 ofFig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 5.

' Referring to the drawings, the machine comprises a supportingframe-work having a number of supporting legs 10 connected at theirupper ends by suitable side beams 11 and beams 12, and suitable crossbeams, such as y13, are provided for purposes which will more readilyappear as the description proceeds.

A number of rollers 14 are rotatably mounted at one end of theframe-work and a gravity chute 15 is positioned at one side ofthemachine so as to feed cans to the rollers 14. Case feeding mechanismindicated generally at 16 is secured to the side of the inachine and isconstructed and arranged so thatits operation synchonizes with that of Ythe machine.

Power for operating the machine is sup- Another rotatable shaft 23 ismounted at j" the opposite end of the supporting framework and isjournaled in suitable bearings 24 which are secured to one of the endbeams 12. The shaft 23 carries a pair of spaced sprocket wheels 25 andone end of the shaft which extends beyond one of the bearing members isprovided with a gear wheel 26.

The shaft 22 likewise carries a pair vof spaced sprocket wheels 27. Thepower transmitted to vshaft 22 from shaft 19 is in turn transferred toshaft 23 by means of a pair of spaced sprocket chains or travellingconveyors 28 carried by the sprocket wheels 25 and 27, the chainstravelling irom` leit to right as viewed in fhg. 2, and riassinp1between certain of the rollers i4. .the cnains 28 are each provided witha pair or spaced lhtrlhil far 1 have described principally the mechanismfor feeding to the. machine the cans which are to be cased. Briefly,poiverois applied to the pulley 17 and the siiaf ts i9, l2 and 23 arerotated thus moving` the sprocket chains, together with the lugs 291carrield thereby, in the manner iustdescribec T e cans, such as 30, arefed by tne'gravity chute 15 to the rollers 14 and while in positipn onthe rollers, the upper surfaces pf which ar slightly above the uppeilfaces oi the sprocke chains, are engaged by the lugs 29 and carriedalong thereby and oli the rollers.

At substantially the saine time a case or container is fed to themachine by the reed in@` mechanism. This mechanism consists' oi a table60 immediately adjacent the machine and adapted to support one case andan inclined gravity chute or conveypr 6i. VIllhe conveyor 61 may be ofany suitaole typ? out as illustrated is'simply slightly inclined andprovided with rollers 62. A stop 63 is arranged to hold the cases on theconveyor 61 while a cam or preferably a pair or cams .64 mounted on ashaft 65 are provided to raise the cases over the stop 63 at a.predetermined oint in the cycle of operation of the ma; chine. lnsynchronizing the operation of; the case feeding mechanism 16 with vthator the machine the shaft 23 is extended and operatively connected to theshaft 65. The shaft 23 is geared to a shaft 66 by means of spiral gears67, the shaft 66 carrying a sprocket 68 which is connected by a chai1nto a sprocket 70 on the shaft 65. The siiait 65 is arranged to make onerevolution per cycle of the machine, the cams 64 thus coming into playonce in each cycle and pperating to raise a case over the stop 63 and todeliver the case to the table or conveyor 60.

The table 60 is preferably provided with power driven rollers 71 whichoperate to move the cases received from the conveyor 61 to the machine.r1`he rollers are driven by means of a belt 74 which is carried on awheel or pulley 75 mounted on a rotatable shaft 7 2 which is iournaledin bearings on table 60. A chain 73 is carried on sprocket wheelsmounted on shafts 66 and 72 so that the rotation of shaft 66 imparts alike movement to shaft 7 2.

rEhe case feeding mechanism herein described is particularly welladapted .for use in connection with a can casing' machine, but it shouldbe clearly understood that itn can be used to equally goed advantage for.feeding boxes to nailing machines, for loading machines, and the like,and wherever it is desired to feed objects to an apparatus or mechanismat spaced intervals.

For the purpose of picking up the case, such as 31, and carrying itforward to meet the can or cans 30, another rotatable shaft 32 ismounted in suitable bearings in the supporting frame-work. A pair ofspaced sprocket wheels 33 are keyed to the shaft 32 and carry sprocketchains or travelling conveyors 34 which chains also ride on a pair ofspaced idler sprockets 35 which are loosely mounted on the shaft 19.VThe chains 34 each carry a lug 36.

One end of the shaft 32 extends outward somewhat beyond the side of thesupporting; frame-work and on the outer end of the shaft is a coneclutch 37 for controlling the transfer of power from the shaft 19 to theshaft 32, the clutch 37 comprising a fii'zed element 37 secured on theshaft 32 and an adjustable element 37 adapted to engage the fixedele-ment by friction when in thrown-in position. A sprocket chain 38rides on a sprocket wheel 39 which is keyed on the shaft 19 and on asprocket wheel 40 which runs idle on the shaft 32 but which is rigidwith the adjustable element 37 of the clutch 37 so that power istransferred to shaft 32 only when the clutch is thrown in.

A bracket 41 is secured to one of the side beams 11 of the supportingframe-work and pivoted thereto is a lever 42 which by reason of a spring43 tends to hold the clutch 37 in the thrown-in position so that poweris applied to the shaft 32. rllhe clutch retaining l lever 42 isprovided with a suitable bearingI for engagement with the clutch 37 or,more strictly speaking, with the sprocket wheel 33 which is integralwith the clutch.

A rotatable shaft 44 is journaled in suitable bearings secured on theside of the supporting frame-work and one end of the shaft carries agear wheel 45, the gears of which mesh with those ofl the wheel 26 sothat the A shaft 44 is rotated with the shaft 23. The other end of theshaft 44 carries a cam 46, the cam beingsubstantially circular in crosssection but having a depressed portion as illustrated at 47. A roller 48is mounted on the end of the lever 42 and engages the cam 46, thearrangementbeing such that when the roller 48 is engaged in thedepression 47 of the cam 46 the spring 43 holds the clutch 37 inoperative position so that the shaft 32 is rotated by power suppliedfrom the shaft 19. `When, however, the roller 48 engages the raisedportion of the cam 46 the lever 42 is moved outwardly against the resilience of the spring 43 so that the clutch slips, thereby stopping therotation of the shaft 32. The shaft 32 may be supplied, if desired, withbraking mechanism and in the present instance the braking mechanismtakes the form of a belt 49 carrying a weight 50..

From the foregoing, it is apparent that the sprocket chains 28 and 34Inovefin opposite directions so that while the cans 30 are beingconveyed by the chains 28 `and lugs 29 in one direction, the case 31 issimultaneously conveyed in an opposite direction directly towards theon-coming cans. By employing a gear wheel 45 of a suitable size withrespect to the gear wheel 26, the relative rateof rotation of the shafts23 and 44 can be so regulated that the raised portion of the cam 46 willengage the roller 48 on the lever 42 to release the clutch 37 and stopthe rotation of the shaft 32 at just the proper time, or as soon as thecase 31 has been pushed against stops 54, thereby checking the forwardmovement of the chain 34 and permitting its direction of movement to bereversed while the chain 28 continues to advance and disbharge thefilled case from the machine, t-he chain 34 riding on the idlersprockets 35.

Guiding machanism is providedto insure that the cans are directedsquarely into the cases. The sides of the cases are very likely to bemade up of more than one board and in case an edge of one of the boardsshould project the slightest bit one of the edges of one of the cansmight hang up or catch on it and interfere with the successful operationof the machine. In order to prevent any such occurrence an upwardlyprojecting bracket 51 is secured on each side of the machine. Aguide'member 52 consisting preferably of a thin sheet of flexible metalis pivotally mounted between the brackets 51. The guide member 52normally hangs in a vertical position, but is free to be raised to ahorizontal position when pushed forward by the advancing cans.

A lower guide member 53 is likewise provided and consists preferably ofa relatively thin metal sheet positioned slightly above the top of themachine in such manner that the lower face of the advancing case slipsunderneath the guide member which itself enters the oncoming caseandpresents a smooth surface to the cans. Thus two sidesof thecase are ineffect temporarily lined with a metal sheet, and hanging up of the canson any protruding edges is prevented. The guide 53 has a shoulderportion 54 which constitutes a stop and prevents further forwardmovement of the case.

Stops 55 and 56 are positioned onl the frame-work opposite the chutes15k andA 16, respectively, for the purpose of preventing more than thedesired number of cans or cases from entering the machine atv one time.Two cans in. position on the rollers 14 prevent the admission of anymore cans to the` machinev until the two have been removed from therollers and positioned in the case. The case,"

during its forward movement towards the approaching cans, does not movefar enough forward to give clearance for the admlssion of the succeedingcasekwith the result that the succeeding case is held out of the machineuntil the first case has been filled and discharged from the machine. f

In operat-ion, cans gravitater down the chute 15 until two are inposition upon the rollers 14. The sprocket cha-ins 28 are rotatingcontinuously and the lugs 29 upon coming in contact with the two cans 30carry the cans along before them (to the right as shown in Fig. 2). Inthe meantime, a case 31, adapted to contain two cans such as 30, hasbeen fed to the machine by thev mechanism 16 and has been picked up bythe lugs 36 on the sprocket chains 34 and carried forward, yor to theleft as shown in Fig. 2. The case 31l continues to advance, its bottomside slipping under the guide 53, until the forward edge of the casecomes in contact with the stop 54, when the` vchains 34 can no longeradvance and the resistance in the clutch 37 is greatly increased therebycausing the clutch to slip, while the cans 30 which are advancing fromthe opposite direction are forced into position in the case. As the cans30 advance towards the case they encounter the pivoted guide 52 whichprecedes them into the case 31 and in effect lines the upper side of thecase so that there is no tendency for the cans to hang up on anyprojecting edges inside the case.

The operation of the cam 46 is so timed that as soon as a case comes incontact with the stop 54, or shortly thereafter the raised portion ofthe Acam 46 comes in contact with the roller 48 so thatrthe clutch'retaing lever 42 ismoved outwardly permitting the clutch 37 to entirelydisengage. The forward movement of the sprocket chains 34 is thusarrested, while the movement of the sprocket chains 28 continues. Thusthe lugs 29 whichnow engage the edge ofthe box move Obviously with theclutch out of engagement jl the lugs 29 on vchains 28 now move not onlythe filled case but also carry back chains 34 by reason of theengagement of lugs 36 with the case, the chain 34 ridingon idlersprockets 35. Suitable guide members 56 are provided` to insure that thebox shall be properly deposited on the chute. The chute 55 is positionedsomewhat rbelow the level of the sprocket chains 28 and connecting thechute.vk

with the end of thev supporting frame-work is` an inclined rack 57 downwhich the lled of which is a shoulder 58 against which the...

descending cases strike, the force of the pact being suficient to ineect throw or turn the cases onto the roller chute 55 in an uprightposition,-that is, with the open end up.

lf desired, the supporting frame-work may be provided with a flat top,such as 59, but the top must necessarily be made up of several sectionsin order to provide suhcient spaces between the sections for theoperation of the sprocket chains 28 and 34.

Apparatus of preferred form and construction has been illustrated anddescribed for the purpose of showing a way in which this invention maybe practiced, but the inventive thought upon which this application isbased is broader than this illustrative embodiment thereof. lt is,therefore, understood that the scope of the invention is not to belimited by the present disclosure, reference being had to the appendedclaims for that purpose.

lVhat l claim is:

1. A conveyor system comprising an in clined chute, a power actuatedconveyor having one end thereof adjacent and its conveying surface abovethe lower end of the chute to provide a shoulder or stop for checkingthe downward movement of articles on said chute, and rotatable means forsuccessively raising the articles on the chute over said stop and movingsaid articles forwardly onto the conveyor.

2. A conveyor system for feeding articles to a machine comprising aninclined chute, a power actuated conveyor having one end thereofadjacent and its conveying surface above the lower end of the chute toprovide a shoulder or stop for checking the downward movement ofarticles on said chute, means for successively raising and moving saidarticles over said stop and onto the conveyor, and means forsynchronizing the movement of said raising means with the operation ofthe machine.

3. A. conveyor system for feeding articles to a machine comprising aninclined chute, a horizontally disposed power actuated conveyor havingone end adjacent and its conveying surface above the lower end of saidchute to provide a fixed stop for checking the downward movement ofarticles on the chute, a rotating cam for periodically engaging thebottoms of articles Aon the chute to raise them over the stop and ontothe conveyor, and means for operating said cam in synchronism with themachine.

4. In a conveyor system, a conveyor for moving a succession of articles,a second conveyor adapted to periodically receive articles from thefirst conveyor and having one of its ends adjacent and its conveyingsurface above one end of the first conveyor to provide a shoulder forchecking the movement of articles on the first conveyor, meanscoinprising a rotating cam for periodically raising one of thesuccession of articles on the first conveyor over said shoulder and ontothe second conveyor for further transfer, and means for operating saidraising means.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 15th day of Aug.,1927.

LEON TITUS.

